The Dragon and the Computer: Why Intellectual Property Theft is Compatible with Chinese Cyber-Warfare Doctrine
It addresses the problem of understanding cyber-warfare strategies for policymakers and security analysts, but appears incremental in applying known doctrines to a specific case.
The paper explores how Chinese military doctrines like 'Unrestricted Warfare' and 'Active Offense' from the 1990s influenced cyber-operations, specifically linking them to intellectual property theft as seen in Operation Aurora against U.S. firms.
Along with the USA and Russia, China is often considered one of the leading cyber-powers in the world. In this excerpt, we explore how Chinese military thought, developed in the 1990s, influenced their cyber-operations in the early 2000s. In particular, we examine the ideas of "Unrestricted Warfare" and "Active Offense" and discuss how they can permit for the theft of intellectual property. We then specifically look at how the case study of Operation Aurora, a cyber-operation directed against many major U.S. technology and defense firms, reflects some of these ideas.